Sentences and clauses

What is a complete sentence?

A complete sentence has a subject (who or what it is about) and a verb (what they do or are), and it expresses a whole idea. For example: 'The dog barked.'

What is a subject in a sentence?

The subject is the person, place, or thing that does the action or is being described. In 'The cat slept,' the subject is 'the cat.'

What is a verb?

A verb is an action word or a state-of-being word. In 'The children play,' the verb is 'play.' In 'She is happy,' the verb is 'is.'

What are the four types of sentences?

The four types are: statements (tell something), questions (ask something), commands (tell someone to do something), and exclamations (show strong feeling).

Give an example of a statement sentence.

A statement tells something and ends with a period. Example: 'The sun is shining.'

Give an example of a question sentence.

A question asks something and ends with a question mark. Example: 'Are you coming to the party?'

Give an example of a command sentence.

A command tells someone to do something and often ends with a period. Example: 'Close the door.'

Give an example of an exclamation sentence.

An exclamation shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation mark. Example: 'What a beautiful sunset!'

What is a clause?

A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. Some clauses can stand alone, and some cannot.

What is an independent clause?

An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence. Example: 'I like ice cream.'

What is a dependent clause?

A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone. It needs an independent clause to make sense. Example: 'because it was raining'

What is a main clause?

A main clause is another name for an independent clause. It can stand alone as a sentence.

What is a subordinate clause?

A subordinate clause is another name for a dependent clause. It cannot stand alone and is introduced by a subordinating conjunction.

Name some subordinating conjunctions.

Subordinating conjunctions include: when, if, because, although, since, while, and after.

What does a subordinating conjunction do?

A subordinating conjunction connects a dependent clause to an independent clause and shows the relationship, like time or reason.

What is a fragment?

A fragment is an incomplete sentence. It might be missing a subject or a verb, or it might not express a complete idea. Example: 'Running down the street.'

How can you fix a fragment?

Add the missing part to make it a complete sentence. For example, 'Running down the street' can become 'The dog was running down the street.'

What is a run-on sentence?

A run-on sentence joins two independent clauses without proper punctuation or a conjunction. Example: 'I like pizza I eat it every day.'

How can you fix a run-on sentence?

You can split it into two sentences or add a comma and a conjunction. Example: 'I like pizza, and I eat it every day.'

What are the conjunctions used to join clauses?

The conjunctions are: and, but, or, so. They can join two independent clauses to make a compound sentence.

Give an example of a sentence with two independent clauses joined by 'but'.

Example: 'I wanted to go outside, but it was raining.' The two independent clauses are 'I wanted to go outside' and 'it was raining.'

What is a complex sentence?

A complex sentence has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Example: 'When the bell rang, the students left.'

What is a compound sentence?

A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses joined by a comma and a conjunction (and, but, or, so). Example: 'I like tea, and she likes coffee.'

Why is it good to vary sentence length in writing?

Varying sentence length makes writing more interesting and helps keep the reader's attention. Short sentences can add punch, while longer sentences give detail.